Mishaps, Adventures, and Other Things

A few weeks ago, Andrew poured water all over Ben's laptop.  In short, it is ruined.  Completely ruined.  It's frustrating that over $600 was destroyed by the hand of our toddler, but such is the life with children.

Emily entertains us daily with her interesting observations and exclamations.

A sampling -

"I am married."  "Really?  Who are you married to?"  "Andrew."  (This changes daily from friends to her dad, but she is adamant that she is married.)

"Mom, I'm tired.  I can't clean."

"Mommy! We get to see planets!" she says while pointing to the stars alongside the moon.  (I had told her that when it gets dark, we can see the planets Venus and Jupiter by the moon.  I was astonished that she remembered!)

"That's my favorite [cheerios, friend, snack, drink, movie, Journey-friend]."

"Let's go to the park, what about that daddy?"

When introducing Andrew to someone new, she says, "this is my best friend, Andrew!"

She likes to play dress-up and uses very interesting mediums to do so.  Like a burlap sack.

Emily has always been close to her dad, but with my recent sickness she has become even closer.  It's not unusual to find her downstairs on the couch like this,

Andrew has really struggled with me being sick.  He has always been attached to me, in ways that Emily never was.  He likes to have me in the same room and often will only play within a few feet from me.  Lately, if I'm not downstairs when he wakes up, he climbs up the stairs wailing, "Mommy!" and quickly climbs into bed with me while clutching his "ganky."  I have had some treasure-filled moments with him - like his laying next to me and stroking my face, or singing songs to me while I vomit.  It has been hard and sweet to see how much he cares for me.

He is such a handsome boy.

Andrew is often telling us he "can't" do something.  To encourage his independence, we often cheer for him ("Go Andy go!") and tell him he "can" do whatever it is he wants.  In response to this, and showing how he clearly listens to us, when he is worried about doing something we often hear him say things like, "Go, Andy, go!"  And, after he finishes, "I did it!"

In other BIG news,  Ben has decided to withdraw from medical school.  There are so many reasons for this and I don't have the time or energy to write them down right now, but suffice it to say we are very comfortable with this decision.  In April, we will be moving to St. Louis so Ben can start a job managing call centers with Enterprise.  It is a great opportunity and we are excited to start.

As for me, I finally stopped throwing up 24/7 a week ago.  My day typically starts with a couple vomiting sessions but by 11 I usually feel pretty good, in fact I feel fantastic!  I'm still dealing with side effects from the stupid medicine I was taking - and shouldn't have been taking - but whatever. (As well as crippling depression but that is a whole 'nother topic.)

I am 15.5 weeks today and am glad to bid the first trimester good-bye.  I am also excited to find a new doctor because I was not impressed by the one I had here.  Eck.

And so, our lives are currently in temporary upheaval as we find an apartment/house to rent in St. Louis, pack up our stuff, and get ready to settle in for at least 5 years in the city.  Since I am also starting school in a couple weeks, we will be a little busy.  Aw, but busy is okay. It makes winter somewhat more bearable.